


Fearless

by bubb



Category: DuckTales (Cartoon 2017)
Genre: M/M, and louie tryna flirt with the boy he likes but not being very good at it, but they survive and are fine, but tw for major injuries involving teen characters, fairytale AU, fic that bounces between angst and a touch of near death experience, i do not know if the violence is extreme enough for archive warnings, prince!louie, royal au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-26
Updated: 2020-11-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:33:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27716858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bubb/pseuds/bubb
Summary: "You've got a bad habit of attracting danger, you know that, right? I'm pretty sure it's a Duck thing."The remark slapped the annoyed expression right off Louie's face.Ty quirked an eyebrow. "What's that look for?"Before he could further analyse, Louie sharply turned on his heel and strode on."It's a Duck thing." He said, keeping his tone even.Both of them knew it was a Duck thing. Ty just didn't know the half of it.
Relationships: Louie Duck/Original Male Character(s)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 24





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! Sorry I am a little afraid of posting this on here where everyone can see it cuz stuff about Ty and this au specifically are topics only a handful of people are familiar with and this fic was written mostly for them. But here it is. If you're interested you can find more about the au with the below links  
> https://lollytea.tumblr.com/post/625281082940653568  
> https://lollytea.tumblr.com/post/625284242506727424  
> https://lollytea.tumblr.com/post/625289027842670592
> 
> And if you DONT wanna read those, i'll just tell you the important things you gotta know to understand the fic: 
> 
> 1.) The triplets are princes and are each are under a curse which will lead them to a terrible and inevitable fate.  
> 2.) Huey and Dewey have already experienced and broken their curses but Louie does not believe he'll be able to do the same when his strikes on his 16th birthday.  
> 3.) Ty Cloudkicker is Louie's personal bodyguard/retainer/friend and Louie has a crush on him. Ty does not know about the curse.
> 
> (this is the first long thing ive written in a while so please understand if im rusty)

_**[OCTOBER 22ND, 6:19PM]** _

The sky was bleeding pink and orange and Louie tried to focus on it. Didn't take much brainpower to appreciate a sunset.

He clung to the sight with desperation, muttering the simplest thoughts under his breath like a mantra.

It was pretty.

He liked sunsets.

He liked pink. He liked orange.

The distraction wasn't working. The unpleasantness that was already writhing in his stomach churned.

His finger was on his temple, idly tracing delicate circles against the tightly wrapped bandage. His head hurt.

The point where his shoulder met his upper arm was also dressed. The stitching still had to heal up. That hurt too.

Louie was pretty stupid. Which was not something he usually thought. But it was a real kick in the confidence when someone sharp-witted did something stupid.

And it was a real kick in the heart when someone who didn't wanna hurt anybody ended up hurting somebody.

This was stupid.

He had already tried reading as a means of distraction. Too hard. Too many words. Way too much of a strain on his mild concussion.

This was so, _so stupid._

Sitting by his windowsill, he hoped this dumb bandage would be gone soon. His forehead felt sticky and damp with sweat.

_He_ was stupid.

He wished Webby were here. If she were, she'd be in the courtyard below his window sparring with Dewey. At least then, Louie could watch and keep his mind occupied.

No. No, that wasn't right.

If Webby were here, she would've attached herself to Louie by now, hugging him tight until his injury healed.

If it had been any other incident, Louie would let her, crumbling into her arms and whimpering about the pain as his amazing, magical sister made it all ebb away.

But this wasn't any other incident.

If Webby were here, he wouldn't be able to accept her hugs. The very idea rubbed him the wrong way. If anyone was entitled to healing hugs, it wasn't Louie, it was--....

His face twisted up.

Webby wasn't here. She was off on some quest with Lena. Probably wouldn't be back for days.

So there was no _point_ in dwelling over hypotheticals. Louie would heal on his own.

They were both gonna have to heal on their own.

The sunset was fading.

It was pretty.

Pink...

Orange....

He couldn't do this.

_Why_ was he doing this?!

Louie always knew himself to be a coward but this was to a pathetic extent. Depraved even. He felt sick.

He couldn't. He just couldn't. Every additional second he spent hiding in his room was weighing him down. It was suffocating.

But he couldn't leave. He was too scared.

Freezing up just like always.

Just stop being so fucking _scared!_

He would have to confront what he did eventually. There was no way around it. So, why couldn't he just _go now?_

Louie had far worse things in his life to be dreading. Far worse.

A ticking clock of trepidation was seated deep inside him. A predestined future he couldn't rewrite which, on all accounts, should render him paralyzed. But he wasn't.

_This_ was the sort of thing to demolish him. Apparently.

Stupid.

This shouldn't be overdriving his other senses. This shouldn't be flooding his mind. He shouldn't be drowning right now.

This shouldn't have his hands shaking.

This shouldn't have him pacing the length of his room.

This shouldn't be stealing the oxygen from his lungs.

His brain was pounding against his skull, protesting his rapid back-and-forth movement. He was dizzy.

He shouldn't be crying.

Fuck it! He was always crying, who cares about that?!

Just stop panicking, just stop crying, just stop being so selfish _for once_ and just own up.

Louie's back crashed against his door, gasping for breath. Stars were blotting his vision and he couldn't breathe and it was the end of the world.

Okay.

Okay.

He was spiraling again. That was all it was, it would be okay.

It would be okay.

The prince's bed chambers, alive with the choking sound of contained distress, subsided to complete silence for just a moment.

Inhale.

Exhale.

And then all to be heard was a small, crackling voice straining to sing himself a quiet little lullaby.


	2. Chapter 2

**_[OCTOBER 22ND, 10:07AM]_**  
  
“Your highness, don’t be an idiot. You can’t just—Hey! Wait up!”  
  
“H'oh boy...” Louie’s eyes flicked to the high heavens. Right now he felt like he was tasked with personally escorting this goddamn boy across this goddamn forest by the goddamn ankles.  
  
He whirled around impatiently, crossing his arms with a flourish. “Pick up the pace, Tiberius. We don’t have all day.”  
  
“Can you maybe not be a huge pain for like... I dunno, five minutes?” Snapped Ty, his dearly devoted retainer and most notorious pain-in-the-tail.  
  
“Can you maybe loosen up? Y'know it’s a real mood killer when there’s a paranoid guy on my case all the time, insisting that the whole world is out to get me. Being constantly reminded of my fragile mortality? Woo, talk about fun times.”  
  
Scowling, Ty stumbled his way over a protruding tree root. “You’ve got a bad habit of attracting danger, you know that, right? I’m pretty sure it’s a Duck thing.”  
  
The remark slapped the annoyed expression right off Louie’s face.  
  
Ty quirked an eyebrow. “What’s that look for?”  
  
Before he could further analyse, Louie sharply turned on his heel and strode on.  
  
“It’s a Duck thing.” He said, keeping his tone even.  
  
Both of them knew it was a Duck thing. Ty just didn’t know the half of it.  
  
“Your highness,” He heard Ty gripe. “You know this is a bad idea. A prince shouldn’t be out in the open like this without proper protection. And I’m unprepared right now. I can’t–”  
  
If Ty weren’t yakking so much, Louie wouldn’t know if he was still there. He wasn’t wearing his armor for once so the familiar clank and clatter of metal was nonexistent.  
  
“You got your sword, right? You can do a lot of damage with that thing.”  
  
“Yeah but no juice. And I need juice. See, ‘cause what if we get in a tight spot and you–?”  
  
“What do you _think_ is gonna happen, Ty?! For the love of all that is gold, It’s just a party.”  
  
“It’s never _just_ anything.” He grumbled.  
  
Ty jogged ahead a little, matching his pace to Louie’s. His footsteps alongside him were purposefully heavy  
  
So, he was stomping now. Real mature.  
  
Louie rolled his eyes. He was fully aware Ty was pissed, he didn’t have to go above and beyond to make his anger known.  
  
“You really think I’m an idiot who doesn’t take safety precautions? I’ll have you know keeping Prince Louie alive isn’t just _your_ problem. Prince Louie is pretty serious about that too.”  
  
He gestured to himself.  
  
“If you haven’t noticed, I’m incognito today. I’ve got no crown, no mantle, no status whatsoever. And look at these ugly peasant threads,” Louie pointed out, tugging at the hem of his dull green tunic.  
  
“It’s actually kinda depressing how drab I look. I’m never gonna do this again actually. But! See how committed I am right now? Who’s gonna recognize me? As we’re all aware, I’m pretty well known for my pizzazz.”  
  
“Just 'cause you stop being a prince doesn’t mean danger stops existing.”  
  
“No but it makes you way less of a target. Now, are you really gonna spend your whole day off bitching at me?" 

The glare Ty shot him was petulant at best. "Well, I didn’t wanna. But I got dragged along on this little adventure so guess I gotta.”  
  
Louie pursed his beak, irritated. He did not drag Ty along anywhere. 

“Come to think of it, I don’t remember saying you had to follow me.”  
  
Well, that came out as harsher than intended.  
  
Ty didn’t seem hurt. At least, there was no sign that he was. No expression cracked his stone mask.  
  
“I’ve got a duty.”  
  
Louie scoffed.  
  
Ty and his stupid duty. It was really starting to wear on his nerves.  
  
But not today, absolutely not today. On this fine, glorious day, Louie was intent on having fun. He would show up at this little forest shindig and he would drink and dance and schmooze and whatever else any carefree person at a party would do.  
  
He would forget about everything that was eating at him. He wasn’t gonna let it consume him, he wasn’t. He was gonna live. While he still could.  
  
His sixteenth birthday loomed closer. Six months left.  
  
“Sorry.” Said Ty, unprompted.  
  
The shadows festering in Louie’s head cleared out as he snapped back to the present.  
  
Ty had his eyes firmly downcast, a noticeable slump to his posture.  
  
“It’s not like I wanna be running around killing the fun all the time. I really don’t. But I gotta.”  
  
Louie said nothing. His eyebrows rose in quiet astonishment as he studied Ty’s side profile.  
  
He remembered when Ty first came into his life. Twelve years old, brandishing a sword too big for his body and grinning lopsidedly in an unmistakably trouble seeking sorta way.  
  
A real firecracker of a boy, loud and bright. Hungry for adventure and excited to throw himself head first into the action.  
  
He remembered one of Ty’s earliest and most confident statements. When he lowered himself to bow to Louie in his uncle’s throne room and declared that the prince would never fear for his life again. Because Ty would protect him and Ty was fearless.  
  
Louie believed him.  
  
Make no mistake, Ty had plenty of bite back then too. He had disliked Louie and the feeling had been mutual. But he never doubted that Ty had spoken the truth with his entire heart.  
  
Ty _was_ fearless.  
  
When Louie was with Ty, he was safe. He believed that and he always had. Despite how they clicked as well as a dagger and a keyhole.  
  
Despite Ty being annoying. So annoying.  
  
He was still annoying. But it was different now.  
  
Louie couldn’t pinpoint when that permanent glowing smile of his had dwindled and a thin frown had become Ty’s default expression.  
  
His sword, something he always used to proudly haul around over his shoulder, now unceremoniously sheathed against his belt. Although Louie had noticed that his right hand never strayed too far from the hilt.   
  
Protecting royalty with your entire being was an all-consuming duty and it seemed, at some point, the reality of such an allegiance had slapped Ty across the face.  
  
He had this distinct way of holding himself now. Always stood straight and rigid, coiled up with agitation. He was prepared to fight at a moment’s notice but it was clear the thrill of doing so had been long since drained out of him.  
  
He still smiled. He still laughed. But only sometimes.  
  
Ty was annoying because he was paranoid. Because he was snarky. Because he was too stiff, too protective. And man, what Louie wouldn’t give to have Ty’s former brand of annoying back. At least never made him feel sorry for the guy.  
  
“Can I ask you a favor?” Louie finally spoke, pushing back a drooping tree branch so they could walk below it  
  
“You can try.” Ty shrugged, his gaze still fixed ahead.  
  
“What if we just turn off this whole 'Prince and Retainer’ thing today. Whadd'ya think?”  
  
He turned to him blankly, complete with a slight tilt of the head that made Louie a tiny bit weak.  
  
“Wha....?” Ty was simply not computing. He looked as though Louie was throwing out algebra equations and he was supposed to solve them right on the spot. And he was not a math guy by any means.  
  
The cute clueless expression was making it a little hard to focus. Louie swallowed.  
  
“Listen.” He began, his thumb dragging itself across his sweaty palm as he struggled with how to phrase this.  
  
Louie had a way with words, always had. But he had a tendency to trip over his own tongue when Ty was involved. Especially when Ty was staring at him with his soft cande-light eyes and doing that stupid adorable head tilting thing and–  
  
“You need a break.” Louie blurted out. “You’re stressed like constantly and it’s getting kinda insufferable and I think your Dad would sick a dragon on me if his barely fifteen year old son suddenly kicked it 'cause of a paranoia overload so I think you should just forget about being my big strong hero for today and come hang out with me at this stupid peasant party and we can just be two regular kids instead of a royal and his bodyguard do you think you could give me that Tiberius?”  
  
It was only in the following beat of silence that Louie realized how fast he spat that all out. He struggled to catch his breath.  
  
One second.  
  
Ty blinked.  
  
Two seconds.  
  
A flicker of vacant eyes and then a rush of realization. And then disbelief. And then–  
  
Three seconds.  
  
His brow scrunched together and a snarl crinkled his muzzle. His eyes flared.  
  
Oh, he was mad....  
  
“Are you crazy?!” Ty shouted.  
  
He was beside himself with a malfunctioning mix of fury and incredulity that had him stammering his words.  
  
“You-You can’t just–....D-do you even– you don’t...do you realize how disrespectful that is? For you to say it? For-For me to do it?! I was given this duty by the King! The fucking _King!_ To just suddenly "turn it off” would be–...I can’t–!“  
  
Maybe "mad” was an understatement.  
  
“Ty–” Louie tried.  
  
He was cutting across Louie, treading back and forth on their forest path,. Not going further, not going back. Just walking to nowhere for the sake of being too scandalized to possibly stand still.  
  
Louie was attempting to get Ty’s attention by grabbing his tunic but he kept shaking him off.  
  
“I’d be a disgrace! An embarrassment! I’m trusted by the royal family to keep–...to keep you safe! I-I can’t just walk around with my liege like I’m on vacation and not be on guard! You don’t even get it, you–”  
  
“Ty!” Louie said loudly.“You wanna maybe listen for a sec?!”  
  
Frankly, he was surprised Ty halted his tirade. His eyes were blown wide, stunned and Louie wasn’t quite sure why until he followed Ty’s look, snapping down.  
  
Seems in his effort to get a hold of the guy, he had instinctively reached out and snatched Ty’s wrist.  
  
They stood frozen for a moment, each set of eyes boring into the touch that tied them together.  
  
Louie’s fingers began to uncurl.  
  
Then he decided no. His grip on Ty tightened with a purposeful squeeze.  
  
Ty met his gaze, looking….panicked? Confused?  
  
Didn’t matter. He could besottedly dissect his unreadable facial expressions later.  
  
Louie inhaled, deciding to shoulder his dignity for just a second. No safety rails of snark this time. Ty might make fun of him for being sincere later but this was important.  
  
“Don’t you miss being a kid with nothing to worry about?” Louie implored. “Because if we’re being real, I don’t think we’re ever gonna get to live like that again.”  
  
Ty muttered something to himself, shaking his head a little.  
  
“But listen,” Louie continued, taking a step into Ty’s personal bubble.  
  
Ty took an automatic step back.  
  
But since he was still holding his hand, Louie was led a step forward.  
  
It was difficult to tell with the pink fur but he could’ve sworn Ty reddened.  
  
“Look I know it’s weird for me to be asking but....can’t we just take a risk today? It’s just a party in the woods. Literally the least likely place to find any danger in the whole kingdom.”  
  
“We shouldn’t–”  
  
“Ty, please.”  
  
Honestly, Louie was a little surprised at himself. He hadn’t even planned for Ty to accompany him anyway. But in the heat of the moment, everything had shifted upside-down. Turns out there was something inside him willing to beg. Something that wanted more than anything, for Ty come along.  
  
He just wanted a simple memory of just killing time with Ty. Separated from the castle and everything that reminded him of his fate. He would like to smile without a hint of dread for once this year.  
  
So, he said just that. “I’m not just trying to make you come along 'cause I’m stuck with you. That’s not it.” He swallowed. “You’re–....you’re cool. You’re fun. I wanna have you around. You know, when you’re not so worked up and you’re just being yourself, I like hanging out with you.”  
  
He tugged Ty’s hand a little. Further from his sword and closer to Louie.  
  
“I want you to come with me. And I want you to try having fun too.”  
  
He may as well just tell the idiot he thought about him every time he saw a sunset.  
  
The hand he was grasping flexed its fingers.  
  
Ty abruptly broke eye contact and glanced to the side, his tongue poking out to pierce the tip of his jagged tooth. His indecisive face.  
  
“I just–....I dunno...” He muttered. “If something happened to you–”  
  
“Nothing’s gonna happen to me.” Said Louie immediately. “I’ve got a good feeling about this. And c'mon Ty, that coming from a coward?”  
  
“You’re not a coward.” He said, barely a whisper. He was now staring at the ground.  
  
“I promise.”  
  
“Huh?”  
  
Louie smiled tightly as Ty looked to him questionably.  
  
“I promise nothing is gonna happen. I’m gonna be fine. You’re gonna be fine. Now, can you do me this favor and maybe, I dunno, trust me?”  
  
The look Ty gave him was a little sad, but it was soft. And then with only a tiny twitch, it shifted into something else entirely. It was trust. Blind trust. Maybe stupid trust.  
  
A minuscule pang of guilt jabbed at Louie. Of course he wanted Ty to trust him. He needed him to if there was any hope of achieving his goal here.  
  
But objectively, he really shouldn’t. Louie was hiding way too much from him. It wasn’t fair.  
  
Then Ty broke the world, shattered orbit and played around with reality itself by cracking a smile and Louie forgot every coherent thought he ever possessed.  
  
He would never put on record just how long he spent pre-preparing jokes, gunning to get the corner of Ty’s lips to flick upwards. Made him seem kinda desperate. Which he was not.  
  
Ty had that oh, so stereotypical “cute boy” smile. It was crooked, cocky, it was utterly obnoxious. Louie hated it.  
  
And worst of all, it was like a little spell to kick Louie’s heart into high speed. Sometimes it dazed and confused him like a blinding light flash.  
  
But other times, it was warm and if he stared long enough, he’d fall asleep.  
  
Louie loved Ty’s smile.  
  
Every time he tried to convince himself he didn’t, he ended up dwelling on it too much and the way his mouth would quirk up would play in his mind on a maddening loop and then it would be too much to handle and the truth that he loved it would always overpower him.  
  
So, whenever that happened (like right this second.) he gave up and admitted it. To himself, anyway.  
  
He loved Ty’s smile.  
  
He loved Ty.  
  
.....Wait.  
  
That last part was new, hold up. Rewind.  
  
But he didn’t get the chance because Ty was talking now.  
  
Still a little dazzled, Louie didn’t catch what he said but he figured it was good since he was still smiling.  
  
And then that smile broke into a huge grin, his eyes flashed with trouble and his hands were on Louie’s shoulders and–  
  
“Race ya!” Ty cried.  
  
With a light push, Louie was stumbling backwards and Ty kicked off into a sprint.  
  
For a brief moment, Louie could only gaze after him, stupefied.  
  
Love, huh? Like the real deal?  
  
That was crazy.  
  
But then he snapped out of as he recalled the audacity of this bastard.  
  
“You just _pushed_ your liege!” He shrieked, receiving a loud “WOO!” from Ty as a response.  
  
And then Louie was grinning. He was giddy. He didn’t quite know if he forgot about love in that instance or if it was the force powering him but he was tearing off after Ty, yelling about the latter’s totally unfair head start.  
  
In hindsight, he should’ve figured it was love a long time ago. Who else would get him to run for no reason?


	3. Chapter 3

**_[OCTOBER 22ND, 7:02PM]_**  
  
The sun had melted away beneath the distant hills and Louie had somewhat calmed himself down.

At least, he was no longer hyperventilating. The feathery tufts on his cheeks were not as fluffy as before, now clumped together from his waterworks earlier. 

He lit the last of his lights, drawing the match away and allowed the head of the flame to seize its last moments. It danced with delight, flickering as it devoured the thin strand of poplar wood.

Louie watched it too long, finding solace in the glow of gentle orange. Just as it was teasing to taste his fingertips, he snuffed it out, not nearly as interested in the arising string of pale smoke.  
  
Seven illuminated oil lamps circled his room, washing him in warm, yellow light. But still, It would breed an array of shadows, outlining everything with subtle pools of gloom.  
  
Shadows made Louie uneasy. They gave him the strangest feeling that he was being watched. Reminded him of people and powers that were best not to think about. But a shadowy room was preferable to pitch black.  
  
He was scared of the dark.  
  
Come to think of it, he was scared of a lot of things.  
  
Louie had a complicated relationship with fear. He was, by no means, the skittish kid from five years ago. He simply couldn’t live with that mindset for long when thrust into the life of McDuck royalty and all the madness and danger attached.  
  
So, he adapted. His busiest days tended to fall in the order of breakfast, adventure, magic, certain doom, barely escaping with your life and then sleep. Rinse and repeat.  
  
Living like that didn’t phase him much anymore. How could it when he was surrounded by the most courageous family put on this earth? And when you continue to survive when that was your Day-to-Day, it had a tendency to boost your confidence.  
  
He had gotten braver for sure. Much braver.  
  
And yet, he couldn’t help but feel like he was lying to himself sometimes. Being afraid of the world around him had never quite faded, he just gotten much better at handling it.  
  
Recent years made things all the more messy. His brothers weren’t as brave as they used to be these days. Not after what they went through.  
  
As a spot of hope, Huey was starting to rebuild a stronger, improved version of his old self. But Dewey still needed time.  
  
It made Louie wonder if his intrepid brothers could be broken like this, should he even bother _trying_ to toughen up? He had never been like them. Not naturally, at least. He didn’t stand a chance when his time came.  
  
He figured that with all he’s experienced, he should’ve at least developed past his more irrational fears. But he didn’t. Deep down, silly stuff still unsettled him. Spiders, violence, surprises.  
  
The dark.  
  
Ty knew he was afraid of the dark. Ty knew most of the stuff he was afraid of. And despite teasing Louie for pretty much _everything else_ , never his fears.  
  
He claimed his brother was the same so he didn’t find it all that weird.  
  
Louie called bullshit on that one. From what little he knew about Ben, it was impossible to picture that guy being scared of the dark. Ty was most likely trying to ease his insecurity.  
  
It didn’t work.  
  
He felt uncomfortable sometimes, being somebody scared of so much, being close with somebody like Ty. Fearless.  
  
It sorta made him wonder if he was inferior. As if standing alongside Ty just wasn’t right. The balance didn’t seem equal.  
  
Wow. Louie was never gonna be good enough, was he?   
  
Wait, no, stop it. Fucking stop it.  
  
He had no right to be feeling all sorry for himself for the probability that he wasn’t good enough for Ty. On the grounds that he wasn’t brave enough?  
  
No. Of course Louie wasn’t good enough for Ty. That was an irrefutable fact. But what mattered right now was that his carelessness had almost gotten Ty killed today and he couldn’t, in good conscience, be focusing on anything else.  
  
He almost got Ty killed.  
  
He almost got Ty killed.  
  
He almost got Ty killed.  
  
That was a little more important than “Boohoo, cute bear boy is never gonna kiss me. I’m sad.”  
  
To make matters worse, Louie had gone and chosen the _perfect_ time to figure out he was in love with Ty.  
  
Sure, It had left him happily dopey at the time. But now, after everything that happened, it was like his imaginary little love letter left a paper cut on his heart and splashed it with lemon juice.  
  
Ty was going to resign as his retainer.  
  
The more Louie said this to himself, the easier it would be to accept it when he received the news.  
  
It was truly possible Ty was currently out of his life for good.  
  
As much as Louie was trying to talk himself into hunting the boy down right this minute and begging for forgiveness, there was a part of him speculating that Ty would prefer not to see his stupid royal face ever again.  
  
It hurt. It really did hurt. But if that’s what Ty wanted, Louie would silently abide by the request.  
  
He hated to admit it but the spineless side of him didn’t want to face Ty either.  
  
The last look at him had been his still body laying on an iron bedstead in the castle infirmary. Beakley had assured the stricken Louie that Ty was not dead but refused to divulge the details as she ushered him out and exiled him to his room for the rest of the night.  
  
He needed to see Ty conscious. He needed to see him _alive._ It would be one weight off his chest just to know his retainer had bounced back.  
  
But also…..he didn’t want to know the damage he’d done. He want to know how badly Ty had been wounded nor how close he had brushed by death.  
  
It had been Louie’s fault. And he _knew that._ But the thought of confronting it head-on was a difficult reality to swallow.  
  
Even though he should. He _should._  
  
Completely unrelated but another dumb, embarrassing thing that made him jump out of his skin? Sudden noises.  
  
Still completely unrelated but there was a knock at his door.


	4. Chapter 4

**_[OCTOBER 22ND, 11:24AM]_ **

The sky was clear, the autumn air wasn’t chilly but pleasantly crisp and there was a lively gathering in the forest. It was held in a wide clearing, bursting with happy people, milling around and chatting. Surrounding them was an almost perfect circle of tangled old oaks, their branches wreathed with strings of homemade lanterns and flower garlands. 

Ty and Louie were quick to turn on tunnel vision towards the table with a large arrangement of party food. They came away with armfuls of bread, cheese, fruits and two tankards of apple cider.  
  
They found a spot for themselves, hiding away behind a stack of bailed hay just on the outskirts of the festivities. They set up their little feast, which they wasted no time in devouring. 

There were minstrels playing a vibrant tune. But even with all their flutes, fiddles and practice, they fell short in comparison to the natural music of Ty Cloudkicker’s laughter.  
  
Louie was talking fast. He was gravitating into Ty’s space as he did so, lured in by the bubbling sound. He was eager, grinning deliriously as he spouted out more and more of his story to keep the laugh from fading.

As if it was a lifeline. Like the back of his mind was utterly terrified it would stop. Yet he was entranced with a flood with endorphins, so enamored with the resonance that he couldn’t help but be elated as he rattled on to keep himself alive.  
  
“Okay, so nobody specifically _told_ Uncle Donald that keeping snacks in your crown was not considered "Kingly” behavior. But see, he just saw it as an extra pocket. He didn’t get what the big deal was.“ 

When Ty laughed hard enough, he started snorting. He attempted to control himself.  
  
Louie wished he wouldn’t.  
  
"So imagine being one of those advisor buzzard dorks, right? And you’re having this big, important royal audience with the new king. And then right in the middle of discussing warships or something, he reaches into his crown, (not breaking eye contact.) and starts munching on a fish sandwich. They looked at him like he just spat on their mothers’ graves.”  
  
The octave skyrocketed and Ty disintegrated into high pitched cackles, tightly clutching his side as if he would split in half.  
  
It swept away the narrative in Louie’s head, fizzling the thought process as he continued to gaze at Ty as if he were channeling golden light.  
  
However, his brain did not send the memo to this mouth that it was time to stop talking. Which led to Louie stuttering out “And the–....He–....uh, he–,um....” a brainless smile slapped on his face all the while.  
  
He couldn’t stop smiling. He was crashing and burning and he couldn’t stop smiling. He was certain he would be humiliated over this blunder later but right now, it was pretty funny.  
  
Thankfully, his subconscious had mercy on him, cutting him off with a nervous, breathless giggle.  
  
Ty was oblivious to whatever kind of gay breakdown Louie was having as he was trying to regain composure from his own hysterics. He was beginning to calm down, occasional wheezy yet delighted noises still sputtering out of him. His shoulders relaxed and he leaned back with a shaky exhale, still stuck with that huge sunny smile.  
  
They fell into a silence in the aftermath, content to sit and just listen to the music.  
  
Ty picked up his cider and took a gulp.  
  
Louie mirrored him.  
  
Then Ty’s entire frame bucked with a surprise hiccup and Louie nearly choked.  
He was pretty sure he saw his whole life flash before his eyes as he collapsed into a coughing fit, Ty thumping him firmly on the back.  
  
“I’ll live, I’ll live!” Louie gasped, regaining himself. “Stop hitting me, I bruise like a peach.”  
  
“Sorry.” He drew his hand away. Then he hiccuped again and Louie lost it.  
  
“It’s not funny!” Ty insisted, a desperate crack to his voice.  
  
It was pretty hilarious, actually. Not just the ridiculous little noises, but the way his shoulders jumped and how he would blink in split second afterwards, startled and bewildered like a baby animal.  
  
Ty gave him a shove, Louie still snickering and flailing his hands to halfheartedly fend him off.  
  
“Hey, hey, what gives you the right to attack me? I nearly choked and died ‘cause of you.”  
  
“Sounds like a "you” problem.“  
  
"Where’d those hiccups even come from? Your papa bear never teach you not to drink your cider so fast?”  
  
Ty’s bottom lip jutted out, irritated. He shook his head “Nah, it’s–”  
  
 _Hic._  
  
Louie snorted.  
  
“Shut up!” He snapped. Yeah, his face was definitely a darker shade of pink than usual. “Sometimes I get hiccups if I laugh too much.”  
  
“Huh. that’s a thing that can happen?”  
  
“Yeah. A thing I gotta live with.”  
  
 _Hic._  
  
“Lemme guess, this hasn’t happened in a while?”  
  
“Huh?” Ty turned to him, perplexed. “Nah, it happens all the time. And when I tell ya it’s the most annoying thing–”  
  
“You can’t be serious.” Louie smiled with a disbelieving shake of the head. “You, like, barely laugh anymore.”  
  
“What’s that supposed to mean?”  
  
“What?” He shrugged. “You don’t.”  
  
Ty rolled his eyes and directed his vision elsewhere. “I usually do whenever I go back to the glen.”  
  
“Are Ben and Lottie really that funny?”  
  
“They are the least funny people I know. Also they suck and they’re cheaters and I hate them.”  
  
Hic.  
  
Let’s see. So, he was clearly pouting. Acting all petty about his siblings. The Glen. Laughing to the point of hiccups.  
  
“Lots of tickle fights, huh?” Louie deduced, a smirk playing across his beak.  
  
Ty considered him for a moment, as if he was thinking about decking him right then and there but ultimately decided it wasn’t worth the effort. (Louie was offended.) He then looked off into the distance, an indescribably haunted look in his eye.  
  
“Soooo....I’m gonna guess you usually lose the tickle fi–?”  
  
“I do _not!”_ Ty abruptly yelled, shooting him an indignant look.  
  
“Let’s get this straight, if it’s one-on-one, I win. I always win. You better not forget that, _your highness._ ” He jabbed Louie’s chest with his forefinger. “I’m the best fighter out of the three of us. In fact, I probably got the potential to be the best fighter in the whole kingdom!”  
  
“Real modest.”  
  
“It’s just if they team up, then it’s unfair! That’s why they’re–” _Hic._  
  
Louie watched, delightfully entertained as Ty hissed “God. Damn. Hiccups.”  
  
“And how often do they team up?”  
  
He didn’t answer right away. Then reluctantly grumbled “Most of the time.”  
  
“So what I’m hearing is–....” Louie casually leaned against Ty’s side, propping his elbow on the latter’s shoulder. "You _do_ lose most of the time?“  
  
"Shut up.”  
  
“No.”  
  
“Okay, so here’s the thing. Let’s say you’re a big, strong brave knight. You’re super cool and heroic and everybody respects you.” _Hic._ “Then you go back home and then suddenly you’re just someone else’s baby brother and they see you just standing there, minding your business and they’re just like "Well! Guess I gotta obliterate him!” And they do not hold back.“  
  
"Ohhhhh, I get that, I totally get that.” Said Louie. “Well, not the brave knight part. But y'know. Me and my brothers had to share a room. It was tiny. There was always a foot in your face or whatever. And sometimes when were bored, they started getting rowdy and throwing hands and it’s not like I asked but I got dragged in too. When I was just trying to sleep, man! I wasn’t asking for a spontaneous duel at 2am.”  
  
Ty snorted.  
  
“Oh yeah, and sometimes Dewey calls me a little bitch.”  
  
“He’s right.”  
  
Louie knocked his body against Ty’s, making a sound of faux outrage.  
  
Ty only found that funnier.  
  
Huffing, Louie pawed around for the cluster of grapes at his side. He twisted one free and twirled it around his fingers for a moment.  
  
“Watch this. I can feel it. I’m gonna do it this time.”  
  
“Are you now?” Said Ty in such a distinctly pleasant tone that Louie could not possibly interpret it any other way than “I do not believe that but I’m humoring you but I also want you to understand that my sweet voice is oh, so bitterly sarcastic. Fuck you.”  
  
“I see you’re doubting me.”  
  
“Me? Doubt my liege? I could never.”  
  
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, you’re a real court jester. Now shut up and observe.”  
  
Louie wiped all expression from his face and inhaled deeply to obtain peak tranquility. He relaxed his whole frame. If he could pull this off, this would be his day for sure. Ty was watching.  
  
This moment would define his life.  
  
Thinking a hasty prayer to every known God, force and entity that had ever favored the unlikely ones, he tossed the grape in the air, threw his head back and opened his beak.  
  
The grape finished rising and gravity took control. It fell.  
  
Down, down, down, down.  
  
Louie now understood the concept of meditation. He was so in the zone, he could’ve sworn the grape was descending in slow motion.  
  
Yes, yes, it was aligning directly below his beak. He was gonna catch it!  
Down, down, down, down.  
  
Then Ty snatched it right out of the air and swallowed it whole.  
  
Louie sat, slack jawed, attempting to process what had just happened. He slowly turned to Ty, completely blank.  
  
Huh. That moment really did define his life.  
  
“You bastard!” He squawked.  
  
“Me bastard!” Ty exclaimed, looking insufferably proud of himself.  
  
“How could you?! I know our allyship has been complicated but this is high treason!”  
  
“Sorry, sorry, I just–” He sat back a little, shaking with silent laughter. He then formed a square with his hands and hovered it before Louie, squinting one eye. “I just needed to see the face you would make and god, it was worth it. You think you could hold that face for a few hours to get a portrait made? I’d get it framed and hang it in my room.”  
  
He was teasing him. Louie knew he was teasing him. And yet he still blushed bright red from the fragment of fondness blurred in the implication.  
  
“W-well, well I would–I’d–” He floundered, racking his brain for a retort. “You think there’s any musical instruments that could replicate your dorky little hiccups? I’d hire minstrels just to have them play it for me! Y'know, for when I need a laugh.”  
  
Ty’s smug grin dropped and his eyes flicked about uncertainly.  
  
“I–....” He dragged the word out, face flushing at a rapid rate as he folded his knees up to curl in on himself. He crossed his arms.  
  
“I think they’re gone now anyway.” He mumbled.  
  
 _Hic._  
  
God, that never got old.  
  
“If you laugh one more time, I’m putting you in a tree and leaving you there.”  
  
Louie laughed again, out of spite. “Nobody’s fault but your own. Imagine you’ve just fought an epic battle and you think there’s no more enemies to take on. But as soon as you say that out loud, boom! Second ambush! You would think a warrior like you would get that.”  
  
“Your highness?”  
  
“Yeah?”  
  
“Shut your huge mouth.”  
  
“No.”  
  
“Okay. Dunno why I thought that would work. Never does.”  
  
“Y'know I would offer to spook your hiccups away. But we both know that wouldn’t work.”  
  
“Yeah, probably not.” Said Ty with a shake of his head. He perked up a bit. “Lottie gave it a shot once. Nothing.”  
  
“Well, it’s just like you said that one time.” Louie shrugged, then faltered when the back of his mind took notice of the dimly glowing orange irises he was met with. His voice softened involuntarily. “You’re fearless.”  
  
He didn’t know what he said wrong.  
  
Ty’s face fell. He looked so utterly devastated that Louie, completely lost to why he was even upset, felt his own heart shatter to pieces. He wanted to start sobbing just from seeing him.  
  
“Oh...” Ty whispered. He clutched one of his hands with the other and began fidgeting with his fingers. “Well, see. Uh, the thing about that is–....”  
  
Concerned, Louie scooched in closer, peering at the face that had once again turned away from him. He hesitantly touched Ty’s upper arm.  
  
“Hey. Ty. Are you–?”  
  
“HEY, LOOK AT THAT!” Ty blurted out, his voice nervously rising in pitch. He attempted to subtly clear his throat.  
  
Louie followed the direction of Ty’s pointer finger which was gesturing out to the thick expanse of forestry. There was nothing there.  
  
But then he caught a flash of movement and noticed two figures tucked away in the shadows of the trees. A young man and woman, probably only a few years older than them.  
  
“The couple?” Louie asked, puzzled.  
  
“The what now?” Then Ty did a double take, then snapped to attention as if he had just noticed them. “Oh! Oh, yeah, them, sure. I mean, yeah, that’s what I meant. Them. Uhhh....look at them!”  
  
“Uh. Okay? Why?”  
  
“Theeeyyyy’re....cute? Gross? They’re something. They’re definitely something.”  
  
Louie hummed, taking the two into consideration.  
  
The girl was letting out a peal of laughter and the guy was blabbing away animatedly, looking thrilled with himself that she was finding him funny.  
  
He was trying so hard….  
  
Louie didn’t know if he wanted to gag or coo out an “aww!”  
  
“Grossly cute.” He decided.  
  
Ty snapped his fingers. “That’s it!”  
  
“You know, I don’t get why they’re over there. There’s tons of people around here. Why would you wanna show up to a party if you’re just gonna hide away and hang out with one person the whole time?”  
  
“For real though.”  
  
For the next few minutes, Ty and Louie observed the couple, keeping up a running commentary on the guy’s obvious nerves and the girl’s less than subtle advances.  
  
Ty and Louie learned a lot about themselves in those few minutes. Namely that they were both terrible at lip reading.  
  
“He said Pants.” Ty was certain.  
  
“No, he said Nance.” Louie countered. “Her name is probably Nancy.”  
  
The girl clapped her hands together, nodding eagerly.  
  
“Then what’s that for, huh? Clearly he just offered to tailor her a personalized pair of pants.”  
  
“You are so dumb, that’s not what’s happening here at all.”  
  
The guy took a dramatic step back and twirled his wrist an unnecessary amount of times before offering her his hand with a half-bow. She took it, giggling.  
  
The two them scampered off, out of the shadows and into the heart of the party, where other couples were twirling around as the minstrels played.  
  
He curled an arm around her waist, smiling as though this was his greatest honor and they spun into the motion, flowing so naturally amidst the other dancers as if they were simply another cogwheel in the world’s most elegant clock.  
  
“Dance.” Said Ty and Louie in unison.  
  
“Pretty sure we were close.”  
  
“Pretty sure we’re idiots.”  
  
“Yeah, I know but just let me pretend.”  
  
Ty suddenly snickered, his eyes glinting. “What was that thing he did with his hand anyway? And why did she eat it up?”  
  
“It’s called flair, Tiberius.”  
  
“Kinda dumb.”  
  
“You’re just mad that flair is not something you possess.”  
  
“Bullshit, watch this!” Ty sat up straight and bent his arm into a perfect ninety-degree angle. “Prepare to be amazed.”  
  
And then his entire forearm began to spin and spin and spin and spin and spin like a windmill in a hurricane.  
  
“Flair, flair, flair, flair,” He was chanting and Louie had already collapsed in a giggle fit.  
  
It wasn’t even remotely funny. It was dumb, it was so dumb. But Louie could admit to himself that dumb schticks get like ninety percent more humorous to him if there’s a really cute boy performing them. He was easy like that.  
  
Ty was extremely committed to the joke as he kept spinning and spinning for over ten seconds. He kept shooting Louie glances and his grin got wider and wider every time he looked away.  
  
“FLAIR!” He let his arm go, throwing out an open palm and nearly knocked it against the side of Louie’s head.  
  
“Hey!” He dodged. “Watch where you swing that thing, you could’ve whacked me!”  
  
“But I didn’t!” Said Ty gleefully. He lowered his hand but did not withdraw. It remained unwavering and offered out to Louie.  
  
He took it.  
  
He didn’t think, he just took it.  
  
It was only when they made contact that Louie woke up and his heart promptly spiked. But besides a light blush, he managed to keep his face neutral.  
  
“So, I guess it’s not just that girl who’s impressed by this stuff.” Ty was nonchalant. His smile then twitched, as if aching to stretch wider but he was reigning it in. “You are too.”  
  
They were still touching, which, by all accounts, should continue to fluster Louie. But as seconds ticked by, a sense of calm was settling over him. The very thing originally causing panic was now bringing him comfort.  
  
It was the weirdest thing,  
  
“I was laughing _at_ you, not with you.” He said evenly, catching Ty’s contagious smile.  
  
“Ehh,” He shrugged. “I’ll take it.”  
  
Louie would count this as a new domain for sure. Uncharted waters. As if he and Ty had stumbled in accidentally but now they were here, their curiosity was urging them to explore. Not to a dangerous extent, of course. But maybe just edge along the sidelines and see what they could discover.  
  
“Your hands are so tiny, it’s crazy.” Ty commented, tilting his head. Turning it over, he slid his thumb thoughtfully across Louie’s palm. “How do you even hold anything?”  
  
Louie wasn’t even eyeing their hands but was regarding Ty’s pensive face. “It’s kinda the worst. Whenever we find treasure and I get my cut, the fancy rings and bracelets are huge. I always gotta go to a jeweler and get them resized if I wanna wear them.”’  
  
Ty was fiddling with Louie’s fingers now, fixing him with a decisive nod. “I’ll get you a ring for Christmas.”  
  
“Woah, woah. For real?”  
  
“Yeah. I’ll put it in one of those fancy boxes. But then you’ll open it and see it’s made out of grass and try to have me beheaded.”  
  
As they were speaking, their hands continued to play around. Ty had flattened his own, aligning his palm against Louie’s.  
  
Louie spread his fingers and Ty laced his through.  
  
“Uncle Donald says I’m not allowed to say "Off with his head” anymore or I’m grounded 'til I’m thirty-five. It “makes the people want to revolt.”“ Louie air-quoted with his free hand. "But I would fire you for sure.”  
  
Ty snorted. “You would not and you know it.”  
  
There would never be any proof that they held hands that day. Not a single eye witnesses, including themselves, as both boys had turned a blind eye to their own actions. They were afraid to look down, as that would be an acknowledgement.  
  
Louie had no mental image of the moment, fuschia fur intertwined with snow feathers, only a rush of heat and a hazy ponder if the dampness was his sweat or Ty’s.  
And if the feel of Ty’s touch was just an illusion of the mind, there was one poignant hint of the reality and that was how gentle their voices had gotten.  
  
“Oh, so, you’re really gonna test me like that, Tiberius? Pushing me around, stealing grapes, calling me a little bitch. Is this any way to treat your liege? You don’t think I’m at the end of my rope with you?”  
  
“Nahhhh....” Ty drew the word out, grinning. He twisted his muzzle into an exaggerated pout and batted his eyes. “You would never because I’m awesome and cool and smart and you _love_ me.”  
  
It was Ty’s utter nerve that left Louie too astonished to even blush. Instead, he simply tilted his head, an eyebrow cocked.  
  
“Do I?” He challenged.  
  
To his credit, Ty did not relent either. However, the impishness gradually died from his eyes until he was left solemn.  
  
“Maybe?” He spoke softly, as though too much force would crack the delicate little word. He bore into Louie’s eyes, like he was searching for an answer. Pleading for an answer.  
  
Louie felt his own hand squeeze Ty’s. He inhaled.  
  
He knew he was going to say something, he was just leaving it up his own scattered subconscious to determine what. He would open his beak and whatever words wound up tumbling out would seal his fate.  
  
He didn’t have a second to panic, to fret, as he was already speaking and he was petrified by how fast this was all going.  
  
“I–”  
  
Something shattered and a woman screamed in pain. Indistinct shouting and Ty cursed under his breath.  
  
Louie scrambled around to see the commotion and the last few things he registered were the gleam of sunlight catching unsheathed weapons, the girl he called Nancy with crimson pooling from her forehead, Ty demanding “Get down!” and knocking him stomach-down into the ground. 

“Stay there and don’t move.”  
  
Then Ty had rushed off and everything went to shit.


	5. Chapter 5

_**OCTOBER 22ND, 7:13PM]  
**_  
Louie was well acquainted with that knock.  
  
Firstly, one firm rap against wood, proceeded by two more rapid-fire.  
  
He associated it with a twinge of annoyance, high sun beams streaking in his window and somebody near, dear and insufferable to his heart, pestering him from the other side to rise and shine already or his breakfast would go stale.  
  
This usually occurred around 9:30AM. If given a say in the matter, Louie would sleep til noon. But he didn’t have a say in the matter because every morning, without fail, there was a retainer banging down his door.  
  
Something was off this time. Once he knocked, Ty had fallen uncharacteristically silent. No continuation of drumming out an obnoxious little tune and and no insisting he open up.  
  
Louie was hesitant to do much of anything. It seemed his door was the only thing protecting him from facing repercussions right now. If he fell deep enough into denial, he could pretend Ty wasn’t there.  
  
So long as he kept his door shut, he could pretend everything was alright.  
  
Ty _didn’t_ almost die.  
  
It was a tempting thought. It resounded in such an appealing voice inside his head that Louie seized his latch before he could give in. The brass shocked a chill to the pads of his fingers as he held on tight.  
  
He had to open up. He had to.  
  
His hand fidgeted, stalling the moment. He thumped his forehead against the door, heaving a steadying sigh.  
  
“You don’t wanna see me, do you, your highness?” He heard Ty say in hushed tones, his voice startlingly close to where Louie had situated himself.  
  
“Ehh, if we’re being honest….not really.”  
  
“Oh….”  
  
“Do you wanna see me?”  
  
“I mean....I kinda don’t? The idea of seeing you right now is making me nauseous.”  
  
The statement skewered Louie’s heart. He shook it off.  
  
“Why’d you knock?”  
  
“'Cause it doesn’t matter what I want, I gotta see you right now. It’s important.”  
  
An prolonged pause hung in the air, buzzing with a mutual uncertainty.  
  
Louie tapped his fingers to the wood and after a second or two, Ty did the same. Their respective rhythms aligned.  
  
“But...” Ty continued, his voice faltering. “If you don’t wanna see me, I can go–”  
  
“Convince me.” Louie was blurting out before he thought twice about it.  
  
“Huh?”  
  
“I need to open this door but, like surprise surprise, I’m scared. You’ve done it before. I get scared and you talk me into stuff. Do your big strong hero magic and get me to suck it up. Please, I need it.”  
  
“Oh, uh, I–” He could hear how flustered Ty had gotten suddenly being put on the spot. “Well, I–...I guess you don’t have a choice 'cause if you don’t open up, I’m strong enough to barricade the door down. So, I figure we should just do this the easy way.”  
  
Despite the circumstances and the scruple wrung tense in his stomach, Louie felt the corner of his beak twitch at the tentative touch to Ty’s tone.  
  
He felt his stiff shoulders relax.  
  
“Is that a threat, Tiberius?”  
  
“Uh, no.” Ty admitted, sounding sheepish. “That was just a joke. See, it was the first thing that came into my head and then suddenly I was saying it. Sorry, I dunno for sure if now is "joke time” and I figured it’d be kinda weird to ask so–“  
  
He didn’t get to finish rambling. His hair whipped to the side with the rush of air that came with the swift swing of the door.  
  
Louie fixed him with a hard look, processing the sight of his retainer standing there, alive and bright eyed.  
  
Ty’s hand was still hovering awkwardly in the air, where he assumed it had been resting against the door. He blinked back at him, puzzled and a little alarmed, as if caught under a spotlight.  
  
He didn’t look angry. But Louie knew better than to lull himself into thinking he was in the clear. Whatever resentment Ty was feeling would spill out in time.  
  
Louie braced himself.  
  
"Hey, Ty.” He said stiffly. “Come on in.”


	6. Chapter 6

_**[OCTOBER 22ND, 12:53PM]  
**_  
Concealed behind the hay bails, distanced from the danger, Louie was safe. He could keep his head clear, peer over the edge and assess the situation.

He quickly gathered three facts.

1.) It was an ambush.

2.) There were seven of them.

3.) There was something very strange about them.

It was subtle, of course but Louie was observant. It was evident in the way they moved. Lurching around in jerky, unstable motions, as though their skeletons were being puppeteered. It was familiar somehow. Possibly a curse or possession, which was not Louie's forte by any means.

He wished the girls were here.

It began as a semi-structured armed robbery but quickly descended into blind outbursts of violence once it was revealed that a lot of the party-goers didn't exactly think to bring along any valuables. The thieves got impatient and, if Nancy was any indication, the whole "shut up and co-operate and nobody gets hurt" moral code wasn't all that important to them.

Louie flinched with every pained scream, every plead not to be harmed and every gleefully sadistic slice of a sword.

A weight dropped to his stomach and he had to look away.

Most of the victims were defenseless. But the few who had brought along weapons had taken it upon themselves to plunge into a fight, if anything just to keep the thieves occupied so the rest of the injured party could stagger to safety.

Ty was one of them.

He was caught in a one-on-one clash of swords. His opponent was off balance, her frame unsteady and her technique reckless. Louie had seen Ty spar enough times to count of a checklist of everything she was doing wrong.

Thank God he didn't have to worry about Ty. This would be easy for him.

But as he continued to spectate, he realized, with dawning dread, that it was not.

She had taken dominance over the duel, forcing Ty to backpedal as she advanced on him. She would lunge too fast and frequent and she was too unpredictable for him to find a chance to disarm her. All he could do was grit his teeth and dodge. And dodge. And dodge again.

He was panicking, Louie could see it in his frantic eyes that skimmed up-and-down from her sword to her footwork, racking his brain for anything that would give him an advantage.

He had none.

She was grinning ferociously, leering at Ty all the while. Her lips continued to move as they fought, taunting him. For her, this was a breeze.

Every so often, she would expertly arrange herself into the perfect dueling stance. She'd do so naturally, as if out of habit. But it only lasted a split second before her rigid frame fell apart with a lurch and a cackle.

She was not as inexperienced as assumed at first glance. In fact, if Ty was currently considered a prodigy, she had certainly been one years ago. She was more than that now. And she was more than a match for Ty when it came to a sword.

The sword...

It caught Louie's eye with another failed strike at Ty. The blade she wielded would always thrust first and it appeared the rest of her was yanked along with it.  
He glanced around at the other thieves, engaged in their own respective battles.  
Their weapons behaved similarly.

Then it came to him. He remembered.

The Aordac Armory.

He and his sibling had tagged along on that adventure with Scrooge maybe two years ago. And if Louie hadn't planned on ever taking up a weapon before then, the experience had undoubtedly sealed the deal. He didn't need any accursed battle axe hijacking his body. Not again.

The memory had him rubbing his wrists.

Aordac weapons would seize control of a person by coiling a power link around their forearms. It would inject their blood with an agitating venom and pump it through their system until they were in rendered scared, delusional and twitchy. The takeover was easy from there.

Fortunately, the link was a known weak point. It needed to be untethered directly to release the victim from the sword's grasp. Anything to cut it loose should work.

But just as he was planning how to effectively get this info to Ty without throwing himself into the danger zone, it happened.

He heard a _shing shing_ and then a loud clatter.

Ty was rooted to the spot, shocked. His eyes flicked in horrified disbelief from his empty hand to his sword on the ground.

It only then hit Louie that Ty wasn't wearing his armor.

She didn't give him a chance to a make a grab for his weapon as she was advancing again and Ty, as a last ditch survival instinct, reeled back too suddenly and stumbled.

Louie's lungs fritzed the moment Ty was too far gone to catch his balance.

He fell hard with a grunt and Louie was tripping over himself to stand up.

She loomed above him, taking purposefully slow steps to build anticipation, as Ty was trying to inch away by his palms and scrabbling legs, gasping out ragged breaths.

She raised her sword to pierce him through.

He curled in on himself, threw an arm across his face and shut his eyes tight.

Louie blacked out.

When the world unblurred, the first thing he noted was that the thief had the palest blue eyes he had ever seen. Almost grey. She had a mole just above her cheek and a scar across her nose.

Secondly, he wondered how he could possibly be seeing her this up close and personal. The answer curdled his blood.

He didn't risk looking down but he could hear it. A strangled sound came from behind him, in what was unmistakably Ty Cloudkicker's voice. There weren't any semblance of words there. He imagined the reality of Prince Louie Duck using himself as a human shield could leave anybody speechless.

But especially his retainer.

The peril of the moment was not lost on him. He was face-to-face with a possessed and aggressive sword wielding maniac. One who was seconds away to having Ty gutted.

Louie was scared out of his mind.

He adjusted himself to stand taller, flexing his outstretched arms so they wouldn't waver.

Something warm and sweaty curled itself around Louie's wrist, attempting to pull him down. He snatched his hand away, not daring to meet Ty's eyes.

The thief's head slowly tipped to the side, bemused.

"Hello ducky~" Her voice was sweet and unsettling. "Where's your sword?"

Louie opened his beak but no words came out. His heart pounded in his throat as she gripped him so hard by the chest, he felt feathers being ripped off.

She reeled him in close to meet her blazing eyes and spoke in her sugary tone. "You shouldn't butt into other peoples fights, y'know? Especially if you don't have a sword. Don't you know it's rude?" She tutted. "I think I'll give you something small to remember that by,"

"NO! Please don't--" Ty begged.

It happened fast. His reflection glinting in her blade was the last thing he registered in crystal clarity.

It tore through Louie's shoulder and he screamed. Acute pain incapacitated him as she released her tight hold and he collapsed to the ground.

He was gasping out in wretched sobs, mind going blank.

There was yelling. More people were charging forward and swords were clanging again but Louie was losing grip on the how or what or why of anything that was going on.

Everything was hazy behind watery eyes. But he could still see colours. His hand came away from his shoulder and he saw red.

There was so much red.

So much red that it was scary. It was really scary. He was gonna die.

"Hey, hey..." Came Ty's faint whisper.

Louie felt jittery fingers stroking his hair. And then a pair of hands discharging a soothing warmth into his cheeks.

"It's okay, it's okay. Just breathe. Everything's gonna be okay..." His voice was unsteady, as if he was on the verge of crying himself "You just gotta keep --"

He took Louie's trembling hand, stained crimson, and pressed it down hard against his shoulder. "Just gotta keep that there, okay? That's it, you're doing real good."

His eyes wandered to his wound, feeling thick blood seep between his fingers. His breath quickened again.

"No, no, don't look at it." Ty gently touched Louie's chin, tipping it upwards to meet his gaze. Unfortunately Louie could barely see him. "Just look at me. It's fine. I just gotta find a tourniquet and you'll be fine,"

He kept blinking in and out of consciousness and he didn't know if it was a few seconds or minutes but there was suddenly a pressure tightening against his wound.

"There..." Ty exhaled. "Just try not to move your shoulder, okay?"

Louie forced himself into alertness, using his free hand to wipe his vision clear

Ty's frame was hunched over him and he could see the pricks of tears in the corners of his fire tinted eyes.

"Ty--" He croaked.

"Shhh. It's okay..."

"No--....Ty, listen. The arms--"

"Your arm is gonna be fine."

"N--....the arms. Weak point. You gotta go for their arms."

Ty's distraught twisted features momentarily faltered, puzzled.

"Huh...?"

Louie weakly wheezed out an explanation to the best of his abilities. Ty was cradling him, using his weight to prop him into a semi-sitting position.

The thief's voice rang out from what felt like miles away. "Heyyy, little bear!"

Louie could see her moving out of the corner of his eye, same convulsive motions. Swords were still flying. Someone else had taken her on so Ty could tend to him.

Ty ignored her, his eyes fixed on Louie.

"Okay," He said, attempting to keep his composure but there was a noticeable bite to his tone. "So you're saying if we manage to strike whatever arm is using the sword, we cut the cord and--"

"Little beeeaaaar, you're not listening to meeee.....!" She whined. Clearly her opponent wasn't giving her much of a challenge as she could fight and antagonize Ty simultaneously.

"I just wanna know is ducky having a fun party~?"

Ty's expression remained cool. But Louie was close enough to notice how the soft candlelight of his irises _exploded_ into bonfires.

He almost forgot who Ty was in that moment. It sent of a jolt of terror down his spine.

But then he remembered. He remembered as Ty's hands brushed down Louie's forearms so delicately, you would think he'd bruise at just a touch.

Careful not to jostle Louie too much, Ty untangled their bodies. He stood up, snarling.

"I'm gonna end this right now."

And then Ty was gone, the nearby sword on the ground vanished, and with the single thing lulling Louie into distraction, out of his orbit, reality began to go spotty again.

He latched on to a blur of pink, orange and gleaming steel. Ty had gotten a second wind, spiked by adrenaline and a hot head, his technique almost as unpredictably wild as the combatant.

People were yelling, weapons were drawing blood, lives were dangling by a thread. So, the heavyset footsteps lumbering towards him, was the least of Louie's concerns.

The shadow of a person cast over his frame and he glanced up to meet the face of another thief. This one wielded a shield and Louie could only stare, not even afraid at first, just dumbfounded.

He tried to recall what offensive attack somebody could do with a shield but the thought was cut short by--

"LOUIE!" Ty yelled.

Louie threw his head back at his retainer, who looked just about ready to drop his sword and run to his side but in his split he was distracted, an opposing blade ripped apart his side and he crumpled.

He heard himself scream Ty's name, attempting to pick himself up and get to him before he was killed. But mid scrabble upwards, there was a brutal bash to his head.

Louie was out cold.


End file.
